The Importance of Construct Definition and Specification in Operations Management Structured Model Research: The Case for Quality and Sustainability Constructs in a Decision-Making Model (open access)

The Importance of Construct Definition and Specification in Operations Management Structured Model Research: The Case for Quality and Sustainability Constructs in a Decision-Making Model

In the operations management research, the inconsistent use of the same term for different concepts and the use of the similar concepts for different constructs potentially causes theoretical and statistical problems. This research addresses the importance of construct definitions and specification methodologically within the context of quality and sustainability management. It involves three essays using multiple quantitative methods such as partial least squares structural equation modeling and multiple regression in different consumer decision-making models in the automobile industry. In the first two essays, a comprehensive literature review results in definition and contextualization of the quality and sustainability constructs as applied to operations management and marketing research. The relationships of these constructs with consumer behavior are empirically tested. Building upon the first two essays, the third essay addresses the methodological issues on formative and reflective measurements by summarizing a procedure of validating formative measurements. The quality construct was used to illustrate the methodology. This research contributes to the literature, theory, and practices in the area of quality and sustainability management.
Date: August 2018
Creator: Xu, Lu
System: The UNT Digital Library